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Maschenko is the fourth of nine children, born in 1909 in Dorohynka, a small village southwest of Kiev. His father Andriy, an experienced painter, moved to Kiev when Luka was a child, eventually bringing most of the family with him. As the Great War tore Ukraine into two sides fighting each other, Andriy was drafted and fought on the front. Later in 1921 and 1922, both Luka and his older brothers fought in the civil war, even though they were barely teenagers.

After the civil war, most of the Maschenko family departed again for Dorohynka — Luka and one older brother stayed behind. They were the only ones who didn't perish during the Holodomor. Andriy himself came to the city to beg his sons for food and both were forced to withhold it. He died on the street in front of Luka's apartment building.

After being selected (without much choice) to attend medical school, Luka spent a short time in L'viv, then in Uzbekistan as part of a Soviet program to "improve health" in its new Socialist Republics. The move to Stalingrad in 1939 was again not his choice; his stint in Uzbekistan was up and Stalingrad's public hospital needed doctors.

Common Knowledge & RP Hooks

Maschenko was fairly well-known at Stalingrad public hospital, and in the communal apartments where he lived. His Russian's flawless, though he speaks with a definite Ukrainian accent. When asked where he's from, he usually just gives his home as Kiev. He can speak Polish, though not extremely well.